Tag Archives: Columbus Ohio winter weather history

Winter 2014-2015 Review

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Winter 2014-2015 Review Columbus, Ohio

The mid-November 2014 cold wave that kickstarted a historic winter.

The Winter 2014-2015 Review details the historic season, with its bouts of extreme cold and heavy snowfall occurring in all months except December.

Temperature and snowfall ranking data goes back to the winter of 1878-1879. Snow depth ranking data goes back to 1940.

December-February Only
Average High: 34.8 19th Coldest
Average Low: 19.3 14th Coldest
Mean: 27.1 15th Coldest
Precipitation: 7.27″ 57th Driest
Snowfall: 23.9″ 33rd Snowiest
Average Daily Snow Depth: 0.9″ 15th Highest
Largest Snowstorm: 6.8″ on February 21st
32 or Below Highs: 36 14th Most
32 or Below Lows: 76 13th Most
Measurable Precipitation Days: 36 12th Fewest
Measurable Snowfall Days: 15 11th Fewest
Deepest Snow Depth: 6″ on February 21st
Days with 1″+ Snow Depth: 30 16th Most

Entire Cold Season: October-April
Average High: 46.6 14th Coldest
Average Low: 29.4 14th Coldest
Mean: 38.0 14th Coldest
Precipitation: 19.51″ 67th Wettest
Snowfall: 33.4″ 28th Snowiest
Average Snow Depth: 0.6″ 7th Lowest
Largest Snowstorm: 6.8″ on February 21st
32 or Below Highs: 43 12th Most
32 or Below Lows: 116 17th Most
Measurable Precipitation Days: 89 16th Most
Measurable Snowfall Days: 22 13th Fewest
Deepest Snow Depth: 6″ on February 21st
Days with 1″+ Snow Depth: 45 8th Most

Average High By Month
October 2014: 63.4 32nd Coldest
November 2014: 45.7 9th Coldest
December 2014: 42.1 33rd Warmest
January 2015: 33.8 32nd Coldest
February 2015: 28.6 5th Coldest
March 2015: 47.6 37th Coldest
April 2015: 63.5 34th Warmest

Average Low By Month
October 2014: 45.4 37th Warmest
November 2014: 30.0 6th Coldest
December 2014: 29.9 19th Warmest
January 2015: 18.1 33rd Coldest
February 2015: 10.0 3rd Coldest
March 2015: 28.1 22nd Coldest
April 2015: 42.9 28th Warmest

Mean By Month
October 2014: 54.4 35th Coldest
November 2014: 37.9 7th Coldest
December 2014: 36.0 27th Warmest
January 2015: 26.0 31st Coldest
February 2015: 19.3 2nd Coldest
March 2015: 37.9 33rd Coldest
April 2015: 53.2 28th Warmest

Precipitation By Month
October 2014: 2.77″ 42nd Wettest
November 2014: 1.46″ 22nd Driest
December 2014: 2.70″ 63rd Driest
January 2015: 2.87″ 51st Wettest
February 2015: 1.70″ 45th Driest
March 2015: 3.92″ 45th Wettest
April 2015: 4.09″ 37th Wettest

Snowfall By Month
October 2014: Trace 2nd Least Snowy
November 2014: 4.1″ 15th Snowiest
December 2014: Trace 2nd Least Snowy
January 2015: 8.4″ 48th Snowiest
February 2015: 15.5″ 8th Snowiest
March 2015: 5.4″ 23rd Snowiest
April 2015: 0.0″ 1st Least Snowy

Average Snow Depth By Month
October 2014: 0″
November 2014: 0.4″
December 2014: 0″
January 2015: 0.8″
February 2015: 3.3″
March 2015: 1.1″
April 2015: 0″



Maximum High By Month
October 2014: 86 on the 2nd
November 2014: 69 on the 11th
December 2014: 61 on the 1st
January 2015: 59 on the 3rd
February 2015: 56 on the 8th
March 2015: 69 on the 16th
April 2015: 79 on the 13th and 18th

Minimum High By Month
October 2014: 49 on the 31st
November 2014: 19 on the 18th
December 2014: 26 on the 31st
January 2015: 13 on the 7th
February 2015: 8 on the 15th and 19th
March 2015: 23 on the 5th and 6th
April 2015: 50 on the 23rd

Minimum High Records
-The 33 on November 14th was a record for the day, beating the old record of 34 set in 1900, 1908, 1911 and 1916.
-The 19 on November 18th tied the record for the day set in 1904.
-The 8 on February 15th was a record for the day, beating the old record of 12 set in 1920.
-The 10 on February 16th was a record for the day, beating the old record of
-The 8 on February 19th was a record for the date, beating the old record of 10 set in 1885.
-The 18 on February 27th tied the record for the date set in 1888 and 1934.
-The 25 on February 28th was a record for the date, beating the old record of 26 set in 1986.

Maximum Low By Month
October 2014: 58 on the 13th and 14th
November 2014: 47 on the 4th
December 2014: 44 on the 23rd
January 2015: 34 on the 18th and 21st
February 2015: 41 on the 8th
March 2015: 43 on the 16th
April 2015: 57 on the 19th

Maximum Low Records
-The 54 on November 30th was a record for the date, beating the old record of 53 set in 1998 and 2006.

Minimum Low By Month
October 2014: 38 on the 4th, 26th and 31st
November 2014: 12 on the 18th
December 2014: 15 on the 15th
January 2015: -6 on the 8th
February 2015: -11 on the 24th
March 2015: 4 on the 6th
April 2015: 28 on the 24th

Minimum Low Records
-The -11 on February 24th was a record for the date, beating the old record of -1 set in 1914.
-The 0 on February 28th was a record for the date, beating the old record of 2 set in 1934.
-The 28 on April 24th tied the record for the date set in 1930.

Highest Daily Precipitation By Month
October 2014: 0.57″ on the 6th
November 2014: 0.39″ on the 17th
December 2014: 0.82″ on the 6th
January 2015: 1.46″ on the 3rd
February 2015: 0.55″ on the 1st
March 2015: 0.63″ on the 14th
April 2015: 0.66″ on the 2nd

Highest Daily Snowfall By Month
October 2014: Trace on the 4th
November 2014: 3.8″ on the 17th
December 2014: Trace on the 10th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th and 31st
January 2015: 3.7″ on the 6th
February 2015: 6.8″ on the 21st
March 2015: 3.6″ on the 1st
April 2015: 0.0″

Snowfall Records
-The 6.8″ on February 21st was a record for the day, beating the old record of 5.8″ set in 1893.
-The 3.6″ on March 1st was a record for the date, beating the old record of 3.5″ set in 1954.

Deepest Snow Depth By Month
October 2014: 0″
November 2014: 3″ on the 18th and 19th
December 2014: 0″
January 2015: 3″ on the 6th, 7th and 9th
February 2015: 6″ on the 21st
March 2015: 6″ on the 1st and 2nd
April 2015: 0″

For more winter records and local weather information, visit the following links.
Winter Season Records
Wilmington National Weather Service



The February 5-6, 2010 Snowstorm

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The winter of 2009-2010 will go down as one of the best ever (if you like winter, that is). The biggest reason for that is February 2010 and its cascade of significant winter storms that placed the month as one of the snowiest of all time. The February 5-6, 2010 snowstorm event was one of the capping events of the month and winter as a whole.

The first event started in the morning on February 5th. Forecasts in the days leading up to this event were mixed. Models were showing a lot of precipitation, but also a strong push of upper-level warm air into Ohio. How far north this warm layer reached was the point of contention. In most years, the WTOD, or the “Warm Tongue of Death” as some Ohio weather enthusiasts like to refer to it, is a constant threat each and every winter. When a storm is moving north or northeast south of the state, they tend to pull warm air north, and the Appalachian Mountains act like a funnel directing this warm air straight into Ohio. During winter events, it presents itself as a layer of warm air above the surface, often turning snow to ice, sleet or just plain rain, even if the surface itself is relatively cold. It’s a constant source of frustration for winter weather lovers. It was this phenomenon that was predicted to strike again and the dividing line, as it so often is, was predicted to be along I-70/I-71. North of there, mostly or all snow was predicted, while south was more mix, ice and rain. The I-70 corridor, including Columbus, was to be the northern extent of this mixing, limiting snowfall accumulations. Still, even with the mix predicted, a solid 4″-6″ was predicted, which is a decent event by itself and typically the largest snow event of any given winter.

Precipitation began as snow across southern counties by dawn and spread north, reaching the Columbus area between 9AM and 9:30AM. It started out as flurries, but the flakes were already fairly large. Within 15 minutes, the flurries had turned to very heavy, wet snow. Flakes were as large as quarters at times and stayed large, accumulating quickly despite the above freezing temperatures. Visibility quickly dropped to a half mile or less at times, and traffic quickly snarled with accidents as plows could not keep up with the pace of the inch-per-hour snowfall rates. Between 4PM and 5PM, there was a respite as snowfall lightened and there was a mix of sleet and ice pellets, but all snow resumed once heavier precipitation moved in, concluding the only and very short period of mixing I-70 had. Snow continued through the night of the 5th and into the 6th, finally ending before noon.

Snowfall totals were impressive, especially along and north of I-70, where little mixing took place, but also in pockets to the southeast of Columbus, like Lancaster. For Columbus, the 9.9″ that fell was good enough to be a top 15 largest snowstorm for the city. It would not, however, be the largest snowfall of the month.

Some snow totals across Ohio from February 5-6, 2010
Greenville: 14.8″
Lancaster: 13.0″
Akron: 12.1″
Bellefontaine: 12.0″
Urbana: 12.0″
Westerville: 11.4″
Dayton: 11.1″
Springfield: 11.0″
Columbus: 9.9″
Youngstown: 8.4″
Delaware: 8.0″
Cleveland: 5.9″
Cincinnati: 4.5″
Circleville: 3.0″
Toledo: 3.0″

The February 5-6, 2010 snowstorm Columbus, Ohio

Snow totals for the NWS Wilmington area.

This event was the only the beginning of what would be a trio of consecutive snowstorms that would strike the area over the course of 11 days, including the February 9-10, 2010 Snowstorm, which occurred just a few days later.

The Wilmington National Weather Service, meanwhile, is a great source if you want to know the current weather in the area.